1. Field of Invention
Embodiments of the invention relate in general to Network Management System (NMS) applications. More specifically, the embodiments of the invention relate to methods and systems for upgrading software or firmware by using a NMS application.
2. Description of the Background Art
Network Management System (NMS) applications help network administers to monitor, maintain and upgrade networks. Various conventional NMS applications include provisions to upgrade the software or firmware used on network devices in the networks. Upgrading the software or firmware is performed in order to keep the existing networks abreast with the latest technological development or due to requirements of users. The workflow for upgrading the software or firmware, using conventional NMS applications, varies depending on the file transfer protocols supported by the network devices. The conventional NMS applications generally include complex user interfaces and require manual intervention. Therefore, upgrading the software or firmware on the network devices using conventional NMS application may not be user-friendly.
Some conventional software upgrade systems use a manual dialog based mechanism. Making use of the manual dialog based mechanism, a user inputs Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of servers and network devices, a file-path of software used to upgrade and other such details. Further, software used for upgrading the software or firmware is selected manually through a file chooser dialog. In addition, conventional NMS applications support protocols like Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) and Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP). Accordingly, the user may have to select the protocol to be used, input the IP address of the TFTP server, if required, and input the file-name and the file-path of the software to be used for upgrading. The mechanism for selection is provided by the NMS applications. In addition, some of the protocols have to be configured to select a root directory to store a file corresponding to the software to be used for upgrading. Therefore, the input and selection of above-mentioned various parameters may complicate the process of upgrading, for the user.
One easy to understand and user-friendly technique of the user interface used in computers and applications is the drag and drop mechanism. Some conventional systems using the drag and drop mechanism are used for transferring files from a sender to a recipient. Accordingly, to send a file to the recipient, the user drags an icon of the file to be transferred and drops it onto an icon of the recipient. Following this, a session is established between the sender and the recipient. The file is transferred through this session.
Another conventional system that makes use of the drag and drop mechanism is used to control network devices that accept or reject messages in a network. This conventional system makes a logical representation of a network security policy. The logical representation is then converted into a machine code that enables a network device to accept or reject messages as per the network security policy. The network security policy can be applied to other network devices by dragging and dropping an icon identifying the logical representation onto an icon representing the network device.
Such conventional systems using the drag and drop mechanism, provide the user with a user-friendly interface. However, these conventional systems do not facilitate upgrading the software or firmware and conventional NMS applications for upgrading make use of complex user interfaces.